Beginning in 1984, I planted a number of the cultivars of Acer rubrum together in J. Frank Schmidt, Jr. Arboretum in Boring, Oreg. As these grew, they began to cross pollinate and set seed. In the spring of 1992, I gathered seed from these trees that had fallen to the ground. As the seeds of these trees are wind dispersed samaras, it was not possible to determine which individual trees were the parents of each seed. These seed were planted in a nursery seedbed in Boring, Oreg., and quickly germinated. I planted out a number of the best seedlings in a nursery row in the spring of 1993 and grew them on to larger size. Over the 1994 and 1995 growing seasons, I evaluated these seedlings.
The original tree of my new variety was transplanted during the spring of 1996 into a long term trial block, where I continued my evaluation. I directed propagation of my new variety of tree on Acer rubrum rootstock for growing and further evaluation in J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. nursery grounds in Boring, Oreg. and Canby, Oreg. Through this evaluation process, I determined that my new cultivar ‘FRANK JR.’ possessed a unique and valuable set of characteristics.
Subsequent asexual propagation under my direction by budding on Acer rubrum understock, by softwood cutting propagation, and by micropropagation have all shown that the characteristics of my new tree are firmly fixed in successive generations.
Classification: In recent years, some authors have reclassified some cultivars of Acer rubrum as the hybrid species Acer×freemanii. A few of the seed and pollen producing trees in the Arboretum that contributed to my seed supply could be classified by these authors as Acer×freemanii. There is not complete agreement on this issue among experts. My belief is that Acer rubrum and Acer×freemanii form a species complex with various degrees of genetic introgression. In this patent application, Acer rubrum is used in the broader, traditional sense. My new cultivar appears closest in characteristics to the species Acer rubrum and is thus classified.